Christopher D. Schmitz's Blog, page 27
March 16, 2018
Preorder Advice from Bookbub
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The folks over at Bookbub have a nifty article about promotion and presales. I thought it was worth sharing and hope to use some of the info to try and strategize the release of a few new books in the final revisions phase this year.
Check out 11 Ways to Promote Preorder Books that Drive Real Results
March 14, 2018
Evolution and the Changing Nature of Indie Publishing
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One reason that I encourage people to follow my blog, along with those of other, active writers, is because of how much and how frequently the publishing world changes. Case in point: Createspace and Kindle. In the last 6 months or so, significant changes have happened with more potentially on the way…
Last year I released The Indie Author’s Bible. In my book I put a note in the foreword about how changes come hard and fast… and sometimes frequently. Anyone not staying up on their game might find themselves suddenly at a loss, perhaps paying for advertising with dead links or websites repeating bad information.
All of the topics in my book are great in principle, but some of the specific info has radically changed. One of my articles in question is how to provide discounts for buyers on Createspace. On October 31, 2017, they discontinued the estore feature entirely. All links to a book at a Createspace estore will redirect to the Amazon listing meaning that authors will lose about 20% on royalties from that specific transaction (Amazon and Createspace had different royalty rates.)
Personally, I think the change is negligible. Very few author’s I know ever sell books on Createspace’s estore because Amazon was that much more convenient. Long have writers surmised that Amazon intentionally made the estore’s interface clunky and stripped of useful features so that people would shop instead at Amazon (which is why I’ve always pushed Amazon Associates links instead of the estore). Losing 20% off a few annual sales isn’t huge in the big scheme of things if you can get your Associates sales level up instead (they pay commissions on traffic based on a sliding scale that depends on the number of items bought/shipped).
Perhaps the bigger picture is what that kind of move might mean for the future.
Some publisher/blogger friends have surmised that this is the first step to phasing out Createspace entirely. Of course, there must be other steps, too—such as the new Kindle/KDP interface that now includes paperback sales in the KDP reporting interface and the “setup paperback title.” It might very well be that Amazon is killing off Createspace entirely.
Why would they do that? Kindle has a strong name-brand recognition and the way they kept the Createspace estores in the Amazonian back-alley for so long might mean that they are planning to leverage the Kindle branding towards new self-published titles. That makes sense since Createspace has become something of a dirty word for authors who’ve suffered through the deluges of godawful books that should’ve never been released without extra revisions and edits. This might be a way to smooth that over. It might also be just a way to reorganize self-pubs into one convenient platform (though I certainly hope that would include revamping Audible/ACX reporting as well… I feel like I need to consult a CPA to interpret them every month.) Maybe this is a sign that Amazon has an online store system they’d like to unveil for Indie’s to post on their website to serve books to shoppers on individual author’s websites (like the also recently killed Associates AStore,) in lieu of the CS estore.
Of course, it might mean nothing, too. Perhaps Amazon got tired of hearing complaints about how bad the estore system was. At this point, any or none of the mentioned possibilities may be the case. In fact, because I write my blogs a few months before they post, something big might’ve already happened!
Still, the principle remains the same. Stay on top of industry news or you’ll get left behind.
March 13, 2018
Review: Looking for Dei
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David A. Willson’s Looking For Dei is a wonderful new YA novel. It is listed under YA Fantasy and Urban Fantasy… I’m not sure that it quite fits either of those molds. It also isn’t quite an apocalyptic dystopia, but there are minor elements of all those genres, making modern teen readers feel right at home with the themes.
The story follows a few different POVs but mainly focuses on Nara and Mykel; Nara has a mysterious heritage and Mykel, her friend can empathize with her because of a birth defect. Looking for Dei evoked the same kinds of feeling that I get when watching the televised Shanara Chronicles. For the most part it’s good, but it’s also sometimes soooo YA slanted. But like I said: good. The story also evokes some themes of Madeleine L’Engle that I enjoy (themes of good vs evil and some very positive tropes that border on allegory in many respects.)
Willson is his own writer and while there are tropes present (without overt spoilers, you’ll see what I mean when you encounter the light and dark dualism personified) he clearly isn’t ripping off anyone else’s story (I’m looking at you Paolini) and has crafted his own universe. I felt the universe took a little bit to unfold and would’ve liked to see the action unfold earlier than it did, but world-building can take time. I particularly enjoyed the little “flavoring” snippets such as quotes from the fictional holy texts like Cataclysmos—they really added a layer of depth that helps in more than just building a mythos, but drawing a reader into it.
This is, over all, an enjoyable read and a good fit for pretty much any audience that enjoys YA or fantasy reads. I got my copy as an ARC to review for my Inside the Inkwell Blog. You can get a copy at Amazon by clicking here… in fact, it just released over the weekend!
March 12, 2018
State of Writing
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I wasn’t sure I would make it this week, but I was able to complete my two chapters for the week on Hoods of the Red Order. It was a struggle late on Friday since the week’s work really knocked the stuffing out of me (the two day blizzard and canceled school and school programs actually creates more work for us youth workers). In the end, I had to shut myself down so I’d have the energy for a last-minute funeral I got called to play bagpipes at; I wanted to stay up and keep writing—I hit a great section where Robyn meets Vlad Calugarul of the House Draculesti (the half-brother of Vlad the Impaler).
YA time-traveling Robin Hood versus vampires. So much yas!
The Kakos Realm 3 is also just about ready for launch. I finished up looking over suggestions and edits from a few readers and made some minor edits. I’m still planning for a Spring release.
On the other side of things, I did some good online networking with other authors/groups and got a few interviews done with other blogs. Apparently I know a few things now so I get to pretend like I’m an expert on a few topics. I’ve also got a top secret writing project in the works that I have been investing some time into. Shhh.
March 7, 2018
Are Press Releases Worth Doing?
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Derek Murphy of Creative Indie has a pretty low opinion of press releases. They just don’t seem to have the same weight that they used to.
In his exact words over at his blog, creativeindie.com, he says
“Press releases for book promotion almost never work… It doesn’t matter how catchy and well-written they are, which is why 99% of press release services book publicity gurus offer are BS.”
He talks about a predatory website geared to take advantage of authors. Rather than make well-crafted press releases they make up a boiler plate one and fill in the blanks and then submit it… using good SEO, keywords, and paid placing they get ahead of the results in web searches and look like a great option for starving Indies who are just looking for a way to be heard.
Murphy uses some comical examples to reiterate “publishing a book is not news. You need to DO SOMETHING that makes you newsworthy.” And when he says, “If you can’t think of any news besides ‘hey I wrote a book!’ then you’re better off paying for book advertising than wasting money on a press release,” I’m inclined to agree with him.
All of that said, sometimes they do work. I have some friends in my writers’ network who feel they’ve been very beneficial and seen some other promotional opportunities come out of them. what I found interesting is that one had said a few outlets had found his press release by also searching for keywords—the same basic premise the shady PR factory was using can also work for an author who can be smart about using his language in a press release (and isn’t that what we’re supposed to be capable of as writers?”
A good solution for the DIY or low-budget Indie Author is to work through a couple steps:
Heed Murphy’s advice and find your story (releasing a book is purely a factoid and not, in itself, newsworthy—it has no value or story attached. Give people a reason to listen.) A good primer for this is at http://www.publicityinsider.com/freesecret.asp
Do some research into how news outlets might discover your press release. Use Google Adwords Keyword Planner to find the most effective terminology related to your book. (More on that at https://www.bookworks.com/2017/06/7-keyword-tools-book-metadata )
Obey the accepted format for press releases. You can find some rules and guidelines on it (as well as a great story about how A Gronking to Remember became a hit sensation—an author made their bad book into a story) at this site: https://kindlepreneur.com/book-press-release/
Use a discount service such as Fiverr to get your release into circulation for a reduced cost
Another template can be found here:
https://allfreelancewriting.com/writers-resource-sample-press-release-template-for-a-book-launch/
March 6, 2018
Review: The Silver Horn Echoes-A Song of Roland
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I was sent a copy of The Silver Horn Echoes: A Song of Roland for review. It is historical fiction but comes off in such a way that it crosses over into the appeal for the fantasy crowd—it invokes kind of the feeling that Game of Thrones fans would have when watching Vikings. As a fan of both shows I enjoyed the story of Roland and it had similar intrigue to the later seasons of Vikings with the kingdoms of the region vying for dominance during the Dark Ages (even though the central figures are the characters rather than the countries).
The story is well researched and flows seamlessly—although the action never bogs down in history lessons. The action comes quick and regular during the campaigns and you never quite feel safe as the reader.
This is a solid book. Well written and well edited. I didn’t expect much from iUniverse (the publisher) in terms of quality (I’m pretty sure they have their own in-house product production) but they surprised me and the book is solid the whole way through (last time I had one from them the binding basically fell apart, hence my skepticism,) and the art and layout of the book is great.
I would recommend this book to fans of either fantasy or historical fiction without hesitancy. It’s not exactly appropriate for all ages (it’s not inappropriate for younger readers as George R R Martin’s books would be, but there is a lot of realistic violence and situations as one would expect given the context. Again, it feels like it comes right out of the Vikings TV show) but the text readers easier than Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire and Eging and Arnold might technically be better writers (as most authors without a huge following are since they will be scrutinized with a harsher metric than well-known authors are.)
Inside the Inkwell blog received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. I recommend you pick up a copy at your favorite bookseller or request it at your library.
Check out The Silver Horn Echoes book on Amazon!
March 5, 2018
State of Writing
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I spent the weekend at a hotel sci-fi convention. Between that and my hectic work schedule, I still managed to write 2 chapters over the week in Hoods of the Red Order (it’s basically Robin Hood vs Vampires) and sell a bunch of books.
This week’s goal: write two more!
March 2, 2018
XN Sci-Fi/Fantasy Bulletin Vlog
Some good stuff on the horizon. Faith-based publishers are stepping up their game, including a few new releases from @EnclaveBooks
February 28, 2018
What the Heck is a Blog Tour?
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I’ve always been a little mystified by the concept of blog tours. Through the last few years I’ve dabbled with the and with little success… mainly because I was treating them incorrectly (kind of like using a wrench to hammer a nail—it’ll kinda work, but leaves the user unimpressed).
A blog book tour is much like a traditional book tour, except the stops are all virtual. Instead of going from bookstore to bookstore the author maintains a short presence at each of the blogs. This is an opportunity to talk about your book with that blog’s regulars. Many different people set these up: publicists, publishing agents, or even authors themelves.
WordNerds has a nifty video explaining them in a nutshell:
The best way to utilize a blog tour is to treat it like a real book tour! This has been my failing on the last few that I’ve done: even though this is a digital event it’s not a “set it and forget it” thing. You should check in at each of those blogs, interact in the forum and on the comments threads. Just because its online doesn’t mean you can check out on it and expect positive traffic. If you want a Virtual Tour to have the maximum impact for what you spend on it you ought to put regular stops onto your schedule so you can interact with readers—that is the real reason anyone does a tour anyway, to connect with the audience. Anything else is just a glorified television commercial.
Penguin/Random House has some great advice for those planning to do one of these (Click here to read it).
If you’re looking for a great place to get started, one of my favorite blog tour companies to work with has been Silver Dagger Book Tours. Check it out and tell Maia I sent you!
February 27, 2018
Review: The Secret of the Aurora Hotel
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It’s time for another Ultimate Ending book review. Having read others in their series, The Secret of the Aurora Hotel by McAleese and Kristoph is by far my favorite.
As with their others in the series these books have a few more puzzle elements versus traditional Choose Your Own Adventure titles.
The Aurora Hotel is a haunted hotel your uncle Gus purchased; you and your two cousins try solve its mystery and lift the curse that started long ago. It’s got this great Shining feel to it that immerses you, although in a juvenile and age appropriate manner… but what’s as much fun as exploring a crazy, haunted house. (Some of my favorite table top games include those like Mansions of Madness.)
Ultimate Ending Books are very similar to CYOA books except there is one ending that is better than the rest—that helps up the stakes a little. If you haven’t checked them out before, they have a website where you can check out all of their titles and also unlock badges and keep tabs on how many Ultimate Endings you’ve unlocked (under the Extras tab) at http://ultimateendingbooks.com/.
I got a handful of free books to review from the publisher a while back and have been spacing them out with this being my last read and favorite of the bunch. You can get The Secret of the Aurora Hotel on Amazon!
